Maternal adverse childhood experiences, executive function &amp; emotional availability in mother-child dyads

Harris, Madeleine; MacMillan, Harriet L.; Andrews, Krysta; Atkinson, Leslie; Kimber, Melissa; England-Mason, Gillian; González, Andrea

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104830

Cited by 15 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The maternal EF/EA association we found is very similar to the association reported by Harris et al (2021)-in their sample, the EF/EA correlation was 0.23**, while it was 0.17* in our sample. However, in Harris et al (2021), the effect of maternal EF on EA remained significant when controlling for a family socioeconomic status composite that included maternal education level (as well as household income). It is possible that this differing result is due to the combination of maternal education level (which is likely to covary with maternal EF) with a variable that might not covary with maternal EF, i.e., household income, which can be largely influenced by a spouse's employment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The weakening effect of including education level as a covariate is also logical, considering that EF and education level are closely intertwined (Deary and Johnson, 2010). The maternal EF/EA association we found is very similar to the association reported by Harris et al (2021)-in their sample, the EF/EA correlation was 0.23**, while it was 0.17* in our sample. However, in Harris et al (2021), the effect of maternal EF on EA remained significant when controlling for a family socioeconomic status composite that included maternal education level (as well as household income).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…To the best of our knowledge, only one previous study has examined the associations between maternal EF and specifically EA among general population mothers during early parenthood. In that study (Harris et al, 2021), the authors found an EF composite of inhibitory control and set-shifting capacity to predict better maternal EA. Our study supports these findings and complements them by offering insight into how slightly different EF aspects are related to maternal EA when the child is 2.5 years old.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…To the best of our knowledge, only two studies have explored this association. In a sample of 114 mostly highly educated Canadian mothers, Harris et al (2021) performed repeated EA assessments as the children were one-and-a-half, three, and 5 years old. A persistent, positive association between maternal EF (as measured with a composite score including inhibitory control and set-shifting) and EA trajectories was found, such that higher maternal EF statistically predicted increasing EA over time.…”

Section: Emotional Availability and Maternal Executive Functioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The role of EF in maternal caregiving behavior is being increasingly studied (Bridgett et al, 2015;Crandall et al, 2015), but many central questions remain unanswered. To date, only two studies (Porreca et al, 2018;Harris et al, 2021) have explored the links between maternal EF and "Emotional Availability" (EA; Biringen, 2008). EA refers to a dyad's capacity to share an emotionally healthy relationship, which is central for effective and supportive caregiving behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Maternal Executive Functioning, Emotional Availability and Psychological Distress During Toddlerhood: A FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

et al. 2021

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Executive functioning (EF) is one of the building blocks in parental caregiving behavior, and contextual variables have been reported to moderate the link between EF and caregiving behavior. Although psychological distress due to various factors is prevalent during early parenthood and is negatively associated with adult EF, it is not known whether psychological distress influences the maternal EF/caregiving link. This study explored the association between maternal EF and caregiving behavior (more specifically, Emotional Availability/EA), and whether single and cumulative maternal psychological distress domains moderated the EF/EA association in a general population sample of 137 Finnish birth cohort mothers with 2.5-year-old children. EF was measured with a composite of five computerized Cogstate tasks, EA with the Emotional Availability Scales, and three psychological distress domains with self-report questionnaires (depression: EPDS, anxiety: SCL-90, insomnia: AIS). Better EF was significantly associated with more positive, sensitive caregiving, but this association was no longer significant when controlling for education level. Neither individual nor cumulative distress domains moderated the EF/EA association significantly, although the observed moderation effects were in the expected direction. These findings suggest that EF should be recognized alongside socioemotional factors as variables that are associated with parental caregiving behavior during toddlerhood. Furthermore, if the non-significant moderation results are replicated, they indicate that mothers in community samples are not at great risk for psychological distress that would compromise their capacity to utilize their EF while caring for their child. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings, as well as to examine these associations among fathers and in samples that have higher levels of chronic stressors. Studies with more diverse samples in terms of distress levels and EF performance would provide further insight into early childhood parenting and its risk factors.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Emotional Availability and Maternal Executive Functioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Maternal Executive Functioning, Emotional Availability and Psychological Distress During Toddlerhood: A FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

et al. 2021

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Caregiver maltreatment history and treatment response following an intensive Emotion Focused Family Therapy workshop

Cordeiro

Wyers

Oliver

et al. 2022

Clin Psychology and Psychoth

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This single‐arm, repeated measures study investigated the impact caregiver trauma history may have on treatment response following an intensive, 2‐day Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) caregiver workshop. Caregivers (n = 243) completed questionnaires regarding their child's emotion regulation and clinical symptoms, as well as their own childhood trauma history (i.e., exposure to various forms of child maltreatment), caregiver self‐efficacy and caregiver blocks (e.g., fears) to support their child's treatment and recovery. Questionnaires were administered prior to and immediately following the workshop and again 4, 8 and 12 months later. At baseline, caregivers who reported experiences of childhood maltreatment demonstrated more blocks compared with caregivers who did not (B = 6.35, SE = 2.62, p < 0.05). Results indicated that caregivers with and without maltreatment histories reported similar, significant gains in their child's total difficulties (B = 0.64, SE = 0.41, p = 0.12) and emotional negativity and lability (B = 0.51, SE = 0.48, p = 0.29) at 12‐month post‐workshop. Caregivers with maltreatment histories reported greater improvements in caregiver blocks (B = 5.15, SE = 1.34, p < 0.001) and child emotion regulation (B = 0.90, SE = 0.18, p < 0.001) than caregivers without maltreatment histories. They also report less, but still significant, improvement in parental self‐efficacy (B = −0.68, SE = 0.26, p < 0.01) when compared with caregivers without maltreatment histories. Findings suggest that EFFT workshops may be an acceptable and effective trans‐diagnostic intervention for families presenting with complex histories, including caregiver exposure to childhood maltreatment.

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Parental Reflective Function in Substance Use Disorder: Individual Differences and Intervention Potential

et al. 2021

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Maternal adverse childhood experiences, executive function & emotional availability in mother-child dyads

Cited by 15 publications

References 51 publications

Maternal Executive Functioning, Emotional Availability and Psychological Distress During Toddlerhood: A FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

Maternal Executive Functioning, Emotional Availability and Psychological Distress During Toddlerhood: A FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

Caregiver maltreatment history and treatment response following an intensive Emotion Focused Family Therapy workshop

Parental Reflective Function in Substance Use Disorder: Individual Differences and Intervention Potential

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